What You Didn't Know
by Marlenerocks
Summary: A story about the POM characters' pasts. Please read and review!


**Hey, Marlenerocks here! I'm on a roll! I keep coming up with new ideas for stories… anyway, I made up a new penguin named Ahayla. Should she be in my POM stories? She is about Kowalski's size, she is black and white and has an orange beak and feet and it looks like she's wearing blue eyeshadow. She is paranoid and has great leadership skills, smart and good in science, and is also cute and naïve sometimes. So, I was wondering, would you like to see her in my stories? If so, should she be part of the team, a penguin who isn't part of the team but is one of the main characters, only appears a few times every other story, or whatever? Please tell me along with your review! Thanks!**

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My eyes opened. It glanced outside and saw the sun. I looked at my parents who had smiles planted on their faces. I grinned, getting to my feet. I yawned, although I wasn't tired. My dad had his arm around my mom. Pride flickered in both of their eyes. I was proud of myself too.

"Happy birthday sweetie," my mom said. I smiled. It was my fourth birthday! My sister started to stir beside me. I looked over at her and saw her blue eyes staring at me.

"Today is Marlene's birthday?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. I giggled. My sister was 15 years old.

"Yep!" I squealed, running up to hug her. She pushed me away, annoyed.

"Oh great, the worst day of the year has finally come," she growled, standing up. A big yawn escaped her mouth. "What time is it?"

"Seven o' clock a.m.," my mom replied. My sister grimaced.

"Seven? I hate waking up early! Why can't you guys just wake me up at 10? Marlene's birthday isn't for eight more hours, is it?" My sister snapped. I nodded, and my sister stomped her foot. "I hate today! Why did you guys have to have another kid? She practically ruined my life!" I stepped back, feeling hurt, but the pain wasn't enough to ruin my excitement.

"Now, now, Calista. Don't be mean to Marlene on her birthday!" My dad scolded. Calista, my sister, stuck her tongue out at me.

"It's okay, daddy, I don't really care." I reassured him. My dad still kept his angry glare on Calista.

"It doesn't matter, honey. One of these days Calista is going to say something to you that will hurt you really bad." My dad commented. I shuffled my feet; what would she say that would hurt me really bad?

"Calista, you can go back to sleep." My mom told her. Calista rolled her eyes and laid down in her bed. "Marlene, would you like some breakfast, dear?" I nodded my head quickly. Maybe it would have seaweed juice on it! That was just the way I liked it. "Fish?"

"Can I have seaweed juice on it, mommy?" I asked.

"That's exactly what I was going to put on it. Now go and play, it'll be a while before this is done." My mom said, going to get the fish. I watched my dad as he gracefully slid into the water. I followed him, but my happiness got the best of me and I made a huge splash. I hopped over a log and saw my dad smiling me from below. I leapt into the water and chased him.

Finally I caught him. Letting out a large laugh, he hopped onto land and shook his fur. I did too.

"Woah, you are really fast!" My dad cheered. I jumped a bit. "Wanna race?"

"Yeah!" I responded.

"Ready, set, go!" My dad called. I jumped into the water before him. I could tell he was purposely going slower than me, but I didn't care.

As we popped out of the water, me being first, I heard my mom calling my name.

"Marlene, Marlene, your breakfast is ready! Come and eat!" Marlene hugged her dad quickly and raced over to her mom. There, a fish was lying on the ground, smothered in seaweed juice. I quickly gulped it down, savoring the flavor. Once I was done I licked my lips.

"Thanks, mommy!" I thanked her. My mom nodded. I ran up to my dad, who was swimming around still.

"What time is it?" I asked. He glanced at me, a quizzical look on his face.

"Eight o' clock," he responded. I jumped up and down. Seven more hours until my birthday party!

"Can I wake up Calista?"

"No, let her sleep, you saw how she was earlier." My dad told me. I nodded and slipped into the water. I swam around, time passing very slowly. I wanted my birthday to start _now_!

I jumped out of the water, realizing what time it was. 2:15 p.m.! I ran around, squealing excitedly. My birthday was going to be at three o' clock! My sister had woken up three hours ago. She was just about ready to jump into the water until I hugged her.

"I can't believe my birthday party is in 45 minutes! Aren't you so excited? What did you get me?" I shouted in her ear. Calista shoved me off and I hit the ground. I felt a sharp pain in my knee, but what Calista usually did was a lot worse. She must've been going easy on me because it was my birthday.

"I can't wait!" Calista growled sarcastically. "And I got you something, er… I was forced to get you something, but if I tell you what it is, mommy says I won't be able to date any boys." Calista glanced at her feet. I gagged. Calista had been getting into boys lately. She would always look over at the sea otters across from us, the seals, or even the sea lions. Whenever she did, she would wink and giggle. I felt like I was going to throw up just thinking about boys! Except daddy, of course.

"Ew! Why would you want to date boys?" I scoffed. Calista let out an annoyed huff and glared at me.

"You're only four years old, you wouldn't understand. When you get older I'll teach you how to get boys to like you!" Calista had a mischievous grin on her face. I stuck my tongue out in disgust; I wasn't excited for that. Calista frowned at me. "Or maybe you'll never understand." With that she turned and padded away.

I was lying on the ground, thinking about all the wonderful stuff I could be getting. A stuffed animal? Some painting supplies? I quickly gasped. What if they got me… a Spanish guitar? I squealed at the thought. Ever since I was a little baby, I had grown fond of Spanish guitar music. The pelicans in the other section of the Aquarium had one. Sometimes I would sneak down there and listen to them play. One time I even snuck into their habitat and touched it! I quickly ran away before anyone could see me.

"Marlene! It's three o'clock! What do you want to do first?" My mom yelled. I jumped to my feet and raced up to my family. Today was the happiest day of my life!

I stopped just before I ran into my dad. I was so excited.

"Can we eat cake, then play games, then open presents?" I chattered. My parents laughed.

"Sure we can!" My mom said. I put my hands together and smiled, my brown eyes shining with joy. She hurried over to a small cave where my parents slept. She came out, holding a white cake. In blue frosting it said, "Happy 4th Birthday Marlene!" And giggled happily. Then they started to sing.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Marlene, happy birthday to you!" They sang. I was so happy, my heart lifted with joy. I quickly blew the lighted candles out, making a wish. _I wish that I get a Spanish guitar! _Everyone cheered for me.

"What did to you wish for?" Calista sneered. I grimaced at her.

"If I tell you it won't come true," I retorted. Calista laughed.

"That's just what they tell babies like you, that if you wish for something it'll come true, but if you tell someone, it won't! It's so stupid!" Calista laughed. I stared at my white foot.

"You used to believe that, Calista, so don't give Marlene a hard time," my dad scolded. Quickly my mom decided to change the subject.

"What part do you want?" My mom asked. I pointed to the part that said my name, and my mom took a plastic knife and cut that part out, giving it to me. Although I was allowed to eat it, I waited until everyone else got theirs. Once they did, I ate mine. I was vanilla flavored. I loved it! I licked my lips.

"But your sister is right, Marlene," my dad started. "If you do wish for something, that only does part of it. The rest, you have to work for it." My mom glared at him, but realized he was right.

"That's true, honey," my mom added. She slowly leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "But that doesn't mean you won't get what you want all the time!" She whispered to me. I smiled.

"Ready to play some games?" My dad asked, standing up. My mom nodded. Calista rolled her eyes, and I nodded too.

We started off playing tag. I tagged Calista, then she tagged me, then I tagged my mom, and she tagged my dad. Next we played hide-and-seek. I was the seeker, and everyone hid. I found all three of them! We played plenty of different games, then the best part came.

"Ready for presents?"

"YES!" I shrieked, jumping up and down. There were four presents. I scanned them. Their wrapping was hiding what was inside. I smiled.

I grabbed the smallest one. It was from Calista. I rapidly ripped the wrapping off, and it revealed a small otter stuffed animal. I hugged it tightly.

"Thanks Cali!" I thanked her, hugging the stuff animal.

"Don't mention it… seriously, don't. Ever." She growled. "I got it at the gift shop."

I looked at its foot and gasped. It had a white foot!

"It's me!" I yelled. "I'll name you Shaylene!" I hugged Shaylene tightly again.

"I like that name," my mom commented. My dad nodded his head in agreement. I set Shaylene down next to me and grabbed another present. This one was from my mom. I unwrapped it and found… paint supplies!

"Yay! Thanks mommy!" I hugged her. My mom laughed.

"You're welcome!" She responded. "You can paint your side of your room, Marlene. Just don't paint Calista's." I nodded in understanding. Then I grabbed the present from my dad. I unwrapped it and found a tape! It had my favorite song on it, "Claws".

"Thanks daddy!" I hugged him, and he kissed me.

"You're welcome!" He said. Then I seized the last present. It was bigger than me! It was from my mom, my dad, and Calista. It took a while to unwrap it, but I finally did. And when I took all of it off…

I shrieked with joy. I jumped up and down. It was… a Spanish guitar! I wrapped my hands around it and almost cried.

"My wish came true!" I yelled. "Thanks so much! Thanks soooo much! Thanks, thanks, thanks!" I thanked them, then strummed my Spanish guitar. Today was the best day of my life!

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**Did you like it? That was the first chapter. By the way, the song "Claws" was the song Marlene was singing to in the episode, "Truth Ache". Please review! And if you have any ****questions ask me!**


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